A market exists for payment cards with an enhanced appearance and feel that appeal to a card issuer's elite customers. One approach practiced by some issuers is to manufacture metal cards. The use of metal cards, however, can create problems with electrostatic discharge (ESD) during use. ESD relates to sudden and momentary electric current that flows between two objects at different electrical potentials and is caused by direct contact or is induced by an electrostatic field. It is known that ESD may cause a temporary interruption or permanent damage to an access device (e.g., a point of sale terminal) when a payment card interacts with the terminal to conduct a transaction. Due to the electrical properties of metal cards, they are prone to cause ESD events that can disturb the payment transaction or damage the point of sale terminal.
Another problem associated with the fabrication of metal cards is materials and manufacturing costs. Many aesthetically desirable metals are impractical for use in a payment card due to their high cost. Moreover, manufacturing of metal cards can involve fabrication techniques machinery that are inconsistent with existing payment card production infrastructure. The addition of new machinery and processing steps can result in further cost to the issuer.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for payment cards that have the appearance and feel of metal, that can be manufactured from inexpensive materials and by processes consistent with existing manufacturing infrastructure, and that do not have the electrostatic discharge problems associated with existing metal cards.
Embodiments of the invention can address the above problems, and other problems, individually and collectively.